Two campuses within the University of Wisconsin System announced Tuesday they are offering employees a voluntary retirement buyout with a one-time payout equal to 50% of an employee's annual base salary.

The buyouts at UW-Oshkosh and UW-Green Bay offer the same payout, but the eligibility requirements are different. At UW-Green Bay, the offer is being extended to all employees 55 and older who have at least five years of service. At UW-Oshkosh, employees must be at least 60 and have 25 years of service to the state to be eligible.

Tuesday's announcements bring to four the total number of campuses seeking to reduce their workforce through voluntary buyouts in the face of state budget cuts. UW-Eau Claire was the first campus to make the offer, followed last week by UW-Superior.(334)

Still no 2010-'11 calendar for Milwaukee Public Schools

Milwaukee Public Schools does not have an official calendar for the 2010-'11 school year after its board of directors voted to reject the district's proposal at a Thursday meeting.

"We've never gone this late in my memory when we've not had an approved set of calendars," district spokeswoman Roseann St. Aubin said.

The issue had to do with the conflict between the timing of spring break and ACT tests, which are now given to all MPS 11th-graders, St. Aubin said. District officials plan to seek agreement from the Milwaukee Teachers' Education Association on new dates for spring break, with the possibility of introducing a new calendar proposal at the board's July 1 meeting, she said.

According to school district fiscal policy analyst Gretchen Schuldt, who was live blogging the Thursday meeting, Superintendent William Andrekopoulos told the board that the administration had tried to get teachers to agree in contract negotiations to an earlier spring break. But board member Terrence Falk said the ACT issue had not been brought up in negotiations.

Instead, St. Aubin said the district's proposal for a March spring break had been presented as one where the timing would benefit student concentration and reduce discipline issues. The teachers, however, had said surveys of their members showed that they preferred the April 22-29 spring break at the traditional time near the Easter holiday, she said.

MTEA communications specialist Kristin Collett said the union had not asked its members about the ACT issue in its survey. She said the union was "having conversations" with the district as a result of the school board vote.

"It has to be worked out before school starts, so we're hoping that can happen," Collett said.

Although the district's calendar has not been approved, St. Aubin said the start dates for the next school year -- Aug. 2 for year-round schools, Aug. 18 for International Baccalaureate schools and Sept. 1 for traditional schools -- is unlikely to change and has been communicated to parents.